1 M ervin Philip WEISS Kenneth Conrad WIESS Loretta Rose WEISS Remigius Thomas (Jr.) WEISS Remigius Vincent WEISS Rose SCHAFER Conrad WEISS Brigetta FETSCH Philip SCHAFER Elizabeth TICHY Joseph WEISS Margaretha GOLDADE M ichael Fetsch Barbara SCHWAB Karl Fetsch Agatha Koehler/Keller M artin SCHWAB M agdalena GEIGER M ichael Fetsch Elisabeth Reinhardt Pierre (Johann) Keller Franceska Klein George M ichael Keller Anna M aria Schaeffer Georges Philippe Klein M adeleine Danner Agatha Koehler/Keller Fetsch Genealogy Presented by Mervin Philip Weiss – OUR FAMILY STORY 2007 A Cultural Heritage <> The Iron Crosses have become a symbol to me of the transplanted culture of the Germans from Russia. Many features of the Rhineland German culture followed the migrants into South Russia and flourished there, with some adaptations for over a hundred years, before making their way to the Great Plains of North America. This iron cross marks the grave of my grandmother Elizabeth Schafer, in St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery east of Richmound, SK. <> The Weiss Family <> From Selz Kutschurgan, Russia to Fox Valley, Saskatchewan, Canada Keller Origins Wintzenbach, Alsace Left: The Krasna Cemetery, north of Fox Valley, SK. Four of my Dad's siblings are buried here. My Dad was baptized at the Krasna church.
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Agatha Koehler/Keller Fetsch Genealogy · Magdalena GEIGER Michael Fetsch Elisabeth Reinhardt Pierre (Johann) Keller Franceska Klein George Michael Keller Anna Maria Schaeffer Georges
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Mervin Philip WEISS
Kenneth Conrad WIESS
Loretta Rose WEISS
Remigius Thomas (Jr.) WEISS
Remigius Vincent WEISS
Rose SCHAFER
Conrad WEISS
Brigetta FETSCH
Philip SCHAFER
Elizabeth TICHY
Joseph WEISS
Margaretha GOLDADE
M ichael Fetsch
Barbara SCHWAB
Karl Fetsch
Agatha Koehler/Keller
Martin SCHWAB
Magdalena GEIGER
M ichael Fetsch
Elisabeth Reinhardt
Pierre (Johann) Keller
Franceska Klein
George Michael Keller
Anna Maria Schaeffer
Georges Philippe Klein
Madeleine Danner
Agatha Koehler/Keller Fetsch Genealogy
Presented by Mervin Philip Weiss – OUR FAMILY STORY 2007A Cultural Heritage <> The Iron Crosses have become a symbol to me of the
transplanted culture of the Germans from Russia. Many features of the RhinelandGerman culture followed the migrants into South Russia and flourished there, with
some adaptations for over a hundred years, before making their way to theGreat Plains of North America.
This iron cross marks the
grave of my grandmother
Elizabeth Schafer, in St.
Mary's Catholic Cemetery
east of Richmound, SK.
<> The Weiss Family <>
From Selz Kutschurgan, Russia to Fox Valley, Saskatchewan, Canada
Keller O
rigin
s
Win
tzenb
ach
, Alsa
ce
Left: The Krasna Cemetery, north of Fox Valley, SK.
Four of my Dad's siblings are buried here.
My Dad was baptized at the Krasna church.
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Merv visits the homeland – Selz, Russia 2006
Above: Merv telling the crowd about his ancestors who
were born in Selz, with Inna Stryukova translating
Margaretta Budayev on right.
May 2006 - Dear Kutschurganers. Selz Museum………
I just wanted to be sure that members of this list (KRIG)
were aware of this local initiative in Selz, driven mainly by
Louisa Riesling. I have twice been a guest in Louisa's
home…. Louisa's life-story mirrors the story told by so many
Kutschurganers who were expelled from their homes in 1944
and herded to Poland, only to be scattered in exile throughout
Soviet Russia in 1945. Louisa has been able to return to Selz
and re-claim her grandfather's home, the home of Pius
Rissling, across the street from the decaying Cathedral of
Selz.
Karolina Fromm, Margaretha Budayev
Above: Margaretta Budayev, Louisa Riesling, Inna
Stryukova, historian Vladimir Jakovlevich Bukovsky, &
Alexei Köhler.
Louisa feels driven to preserve and tell the story of the
Germans who once lived in the Kutschurgan district. She has
been promoting the Museum idea with foreign visitors for
several years, and has slowly accumulated enough money
from sympathetic supporters to establish a German Museum
in Selz.
Of course, there is no local money for such an initiative.
I have been most anxious to return to see what Frau Riesling
has been able to do since my last visit in June, 2005. At that
time, members of the Robert Schneider group gave her the
amount of further monies, which she calculated was
necessary to "open the doors". So I was pleased to read
Michael Miller's report, and my visit is now full of
anticipation.
I am sure that Frau Riesling will also have a budget figure
in mind for future work at the Museum. She will be looking
to North Americans and Europeans with Kutschurgan roots to
help her with this project. I have been to similar museums in
the former German villages of Karlsruhe and Katharinental.
They are the best way to make sure that "our" story is not
forgotten in today's Ukraine.
My ancestors, by Mervin Weiss 2007
One of my eight paternal great great grandmothers was
Agatha Keller. She was born 16 May 1824 in Wintzenbach,
Bas Rhin (Alsace, France), daughter of Peter (or Pierre
Johann) Keller and Francoise Klein. This family emigrated
to South Russia in 1835, settling in the village of Selz, about
40 miles north-west of Odessa, on the Kutschurgan Liman
(estuary of the Dniester River). Agatha had at the least one
sibling who accompanied them to Selz. This was Magdalena,
born in 1819, who later married Franz Jakob of Selz in 1841.
Agatha Keller married my great-great-grandfather Karl
Fetsch, who was born in Selz about 1825, based on his age
listed on their 1847 marriage record. Karl was the son of one
of the original settlers in Selz, Odessa district, Michael
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Fetsch, who also served as the village’s first mayor. Karl’s
mother was Elizabeth Reinhart. Karl’s father, Michael
Fetsch, was married 4 times, and fathered 21 children. One
of Karl’s brothers was also named Michael Fetsch. He too
was married four times, and had twelve children. The
Fetsches were one of the more prominent families in Selz,
and their progeny born in Selz numbers in the hundreds.
Selz birth records in the Saratov Archives reveal six
children born to Agatha and Karl – Helena 1848, Franziska
1849, Johann 1854, Elisabeth 1855, Michael 1857, and Peter
1861. Of these, I have further information on only Franziska
and Michael. I do not know what year Agatha died, only that
Karl outlived her, this coming from a World War II era EWZ
record which listed Karl Fetsch and wife Anna Jerger. This
was either a mistake, or Karl had married a second time.
Neither do I know when Karl Fetsch died.
Franziska Fetsch, born 21 December 1849 in Selz
married Kasimir Riffel of Mannheim. They were married in
Selz on 13 October 1869. Weddings were frequently
celebrated during this season immediately following the
harvest. In the quest for land, Kasimir and Franziska moved
to Culelia, in the Dobrudja region of Romania. Five of their
children accompanied them to Canada in 1906, when they
were some of the first settlers in the Prelate, Saskatchewan
(Canada) area. Both Kasimir and Franziska are buried in the
Blumenfeld cemetery behind Sts. Peter and Paul church.
This was the first Catholic Church in the district, and the
Riffel family was instrumental in its founding. The Riffels of
Prelate produced five Catholic priests and two nuns.
Michael Fetsch, born 05 May 1857, was my great
grandfather. On 04 November 1880 he married Barbara
Schwab of Mannheim. They had eight children, although I
located only seven birth records. Of these, I know that four
lived to adulthood. Two stayed in Russia, and two emigrated
to Canada. The eldest son, Adam Fetsch, came to Canada,
through North Dakota in 1909, settling in the Prelate,
Saskatchewan area, taking up a homestead right beside his
Riffel cousins mentioned above. Four years later, his
younger sister, Brigetta, married to Conrad Weiss, followed
Adam to Canada. Brigetta Fetsch and Conrad Weiss, both
born in Selz and married in Selz in 1908, are my
grandparents. They took up a homestead south of
Blumenfeld, closer to present day Fox Valley, Sask. where I
grew up. My dad was born in the sod-hut they built on land
they could call their own – a privilege denied them in Selz,
Odessa district.
Barbara Fetsch (1895) was another daughter of Michael
Fetsch and Barbara Schwab. She married Joseph Goldade of
Selz. Barbara and Joseph and six children are registered in
the EWZ records of World War Two Poland, but no trace has
ever been found of them since 1944. It is assumed this
family perished in exile. They are some of the “victims of
Yalta”.
Michael Fetsch and Barbara Schwab also had a son
named Michael, born in the year 1900 in Selz, continuing the
traditional name of their ancestor who first came to Selz in
1808. He married Katharina Baumann of Strasburg. They
and their two children born in Selz also made the Trek to
Poland in 1944. Michael was drafted into the Wafen SS and
later captured. He was
subsequently held in a
French reconstruction labor
camp near Lyons, and not
released until the fall of
1948. This heart-wrenching
family story was told to me
by his children, Eugen and
Ida, when I visited them in
Leverkusen, Germany in
2006.
Photo ca. 1910 -
Barbara Fetsch (1895)
and Michael Fetsch
(1900) in Selz on the
occasion of Michael’s
First Holy Communion.
Below - Brigetta Weiss, born Fetsch (1888).
Photo ca. 1956
Adam Fetsch and his wife
Anna Maria
4
AGATHA6 KOEHLER/KELLER (PIERRE (JOHANN)
5 KELLER,GEORGE MICHAEL
4, GEORG (HANS GÖRG KÖLLER)3,
NICOLAS (JOHANNES)2, MARTIN
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Notes for AGATHA KOEHLER/KELLER:
A.) Name spelled Koehler, which we have seen several
times in the Russian records for Keller. <> 1852 census HH#
62. The names of children look like they were taken right out
of the Keller Family Bible! NOTE: Agatha's grandfather
Keller signed his name as "Michael", father (Johann) Peter,
mother Franciska, etc. TJK06
B.) Fetsch and Vetsch are the same name with the “f”
sound. In German, the “f” sound is printed “v”, in English,
the “f” sound is of course printed “f”. My cousins in
Germany spell it as Vetsch. My cousins in Canada spell it as
Fetsch. I have seen both spellings in the Dakotas. MW06
C.) An August 2004 note from Bob Schuh has a
Magdalena Fetsch, daughter of Karl Fetsch and Agatha
Koehler, married to Franz J. Jakob born abt. 1823. Franz is
the son of Michael Jakob born about 1798 in Neeweiler and
Viktoria Becker. I cannot substantiate this because I have not
seen another reference to this statement, and Franz Jakob
would have been a lot older than Magdalena who could not
have been born until after 1847. MW06
D.) Genealogy for Karl and Agatha Keller/Koehler
Fetsch courtesy of Merv Weiss <> The results of Merv's own
extensive research and investment in the work of a
professional genealogist, Dr. Pleve of Saratov, Ukraine.
.. 6 Agatha Koehler/Keller (Primary source for this
subject Merv Weiss.) b: May 16, 1824 Wintzenbach, Alsace -
Daughter of Pierre age 32 & Francoise Klein. Witnesses, Xavier
Wagner age 45, Michel Schoeder age 32 - both from Wintzenbach.
AGAWE ECN 38, page 101.
........ +Karl Fetsch b: 1826 m: September 11,
1847 Selz, Russia <> Pleve record from Saratov Archives which
gives the parents of Agatha Koehler as Peter Koehler and Fransisca
Klein <> Karl and Agatha both listed as age 22. Karl's parents as
Michael and Elisabeth Reinhardt. MW06
Father: Michael Fetsch Mother: Elisabeth Reinhardt
...... 7 Helena Fetsch b: October 28, 1848 Selz, Kut. District -
Saratov birth record - Pleve.
......7 Franziska Fetsch b: December 21, 1849 Selz, Odessa
District, Russia. 1852 Kutschurgan Church Lists--Selz, age from
marriage record - Saratov birth record -- Pleve. MW06
d: January 05, 1918 Prelate, Sask., Canada area.
............ +Kasimir RIFFEL b: ? See HH 95, 1852 census for
Mannheim. 1882 Kandel census, HH # 212. This family emigrated
from Culelia, Dobrudja, or Romania in 1906 or 07.
m: Selz marriage record says Kasimir is from Kandel. Saratov
marriage record -- LM. MW06
.......... 8 Ann RIFFEL b: Abt. 1873 Kandel Census 1882,